Secrets and Lies
by ClaireyL
Summary: New Beginings series. John and Kara team up to protect the women of Atlantis from a new scientist, but they should be more concerned about a different new face. Can they save Alex from her past? Can they save Atlantis from an attack from within?
1. Arrivals and Returns

AN: This is the third story in the New Beginnings series. The first two (New Beginings and Mind Games) and a ficlet (Nicknames) are all up here. You don't _need_ to have read them for the story to make sense, but it'll probably help as there are OC's involved that are introduced in those stories. Having said that, read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I'm wishing really, really hard!

-

"Incoming wormhole," Chuck said over the intercom as the gate ka-whooshed into life below the control room.

Kara Hopkins held onto Alex Owens arm tightly as her friend jumped to her feet. Kara's boss, Major Evan Lorne, had been sent back to Earth a week ago to brief twenty new Marines that were being sent to Atlantis to help with the evacuation of settlements in the Pegasus galaxy that were in imminent danger from the Replicators. Evan Lorne also happened to be Alex's boyfriend and Alex had missed him a lot over the past week. She was excited about his return and so had dragged Kara down to the gateroom to wait with her.

"You do realise that even though he's back he won't be free for at least another two hours," Kara told her friend. "He has to take the new Marines on the tour of the base and then show them to their quarters."

"I don't care," Alex replied, not bother one bit by her friend's pessimism. "If I get to see him, just for a few moments it'll be worth it."

"You're besotted," Kara said.

"Who's besotted?" Dr Radek Zelenka asked from the stairs behind Kara.

"Alex is," Kara told the scientist, bending backwards so she could see him. "Are we getting new scientists today?"

"Yes and Rodney doesn't want to see them. He's sent me to make sure they're all present and accounted for," Radek said, looking every bit the put down second in command.

"You're doing them a favour," Alex told him kindly. "Can you imagine if Rodney came to meet the new scientist in person? Half of them would run back to Earth before they've even left the gateroom."

Radek laughed and moved past the women to collect the first few scientists who were doing very good goldfish impressions as they stared around their new home.

Alex tried to move towards the gate, but Kara was still holding her arm. "Let him come to you," Kara suggested. "See if he's missed you as much as you've missed him."

"I don't need to test him," Alex told Kara, but she didn't shake off her friend hand.

Lorne would be the last one through the gate, Alex knew, making sure that everyone and everything destined for Atlantis made it to its new home.

Alex felt her heart speed up as the last of the Marines emerged from the gate, Evan following them and talking to a man in a science uniform. She smiled and started to move towards Evan when the other man turned and she stopped in her tracks, blood rushing from her face and her stomach churning uncomfortably.

Kara watched her friend freeze before she could reach Lorne, her eyes on the man next to Lorne rather than Lorne himself. He looked familiar but Kara wasn't sure where she'd seen him before. He seemed to be smiling confidently at Alex, while Lorne was looking puzzled at his girlfriend's behaviour.

Kara walked over to Alex and put a hand on her arm, breaking the moment and causing Alex to whip her head round to face her. Hurt was plain on her face and her eyes showed how much she was hurting.

"What is it?" Kara asked.

"Doug," was all Alex said before she shrugged out of Kara grip and left the gateroom at a speed just slightly slower than a run, leaving a very confused and concerned Lorne, and a very pissed-off Kara.

-

Evan Lorne frowned as he watched his girlfriend turn and rush out of the gateroom. He moved his gaze from were Alex had just disappeared to the now advancing figure of his team mate and friend Kara Hopkins.

"Did I miss something?" he asked once Kara was within a few feet.

"Obviously," Kara said bluntly. She waited a few seconds, glaring at the new scientist stood next to Lorne before saying, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go after her."

"But…the Marines," Lorne stuttered.

"I'll sort them. Go find your girlfriend and get her to tell you what wrong," Kara ordered.

Evan didn't need to be told twice. He walked quickly after Alex, wondering where she had gone.

Kara waited until Lorne was out of ear shot before rounding on the man he'd been talking to when he walked through the gate. "You must be Doctor Doug Stepson," she said not too warmly.

"I hadn't realised I was famous," the man said flashing Kara a smile.

Kara gave the man a quick once over before replying, "You're not. In fact I think it's quite possible that I'm the only person here who knows who you are."

"Tell me; will that work in my favour or against it?" Doug asked.

Kara had to work hard to control the urge to hit him. If it hadn't been for the fact that she knew Alex's past with him, Kara probably would have flirted back. Doug Stepson was an attractive man; blonde hair was cut just longer than military regulations would allow, blue eyes were sparkling and his smile could have probably lit up the city during the one night a year that both its moons were fully dark. He was charming as well; obviously well aware of his good looks and the effect he had on most women.

"I will only worn you once," Kara had lowered her voice to the tone that made most Marines cower, but Doug smile barely faltered. "Alex Owens is a well liked and well respected member of this expedition. She hadn't told anyone except me of your history together, and seeing as she isn't a vindictive sort of person, I doubt she'll be gossiping now that you've arrived.

"Now, if you breathe one word, or do anything to hurt or upset her, I will make sure that everybody here knows just how badly you treated her and I have no doubt that after everyone finds out you're stay here in Pegasus will be most uncomfortable. Have I made myself clear, Doug?"

"Crystal, captain," Doug responded, not breaking eye contact with Kara until Dr Zelenka called him to join the other scientists. "I'll see you around," Doug said as he moved to join Zelenka.

Kara watched until Doug and the other scientists left her field of vision before rounding on the new Marines who where still stood looking like lost sheep. Taking a deep breath and exhaling deeply she called, "Alright boys, lets get this over with."

-


	2. The past will always catch up

Disclaimer: Just playing, please don't sue!

-

Evan found Alex on the balcony where they'd had their first date. He'd tried her quarters, the mess hall and her office before deciding that maybe, just maybe, this place might be somewhere she would go if she were upset. The truth was he liked the idea that she had gone to a place he'd taken her to when she'd needed to get away from everyone else.

Evan moved to sit next to her on the bench in the middle of the balcony. Her eyes looked red and her cheeks were still a little damp. Evan put his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug against his side, causing a small sob to escape Alex and more tears to start to fall.

Evan just waited, hands rubbing soothing circles on her back while he made comforting noises and let Alex cry.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed quietly.

"There's no need to be sorry," Evan shushed.

"Yes there is," Alex replied. "I should have told you about Doug before, but I never thought-."

"Hey there, don't worry about it," Evan did his best to comfort her while not knowing exactly what about Stepson Alex should have told him.

"I'm sorry," Alex said again.

"Don't be sorry," Evan told her. "Just tell me what's got you so upset. It's something to do with one of the new scientists, Doug Stepson?"

Alex nodded and took a few calming breaths before trying to speak. "We dated, Doug and me. Before, while I was working at the SGC. He was a physicist working with Dr Lee and I was working with Daniel. We met when the group he was working with needed a translation on some writing on one of the artefacts they were working on. I didn't even think he knew who I was a first. I was just some annoying linguist he had to work with if he was going to work out how this artefact worked."

Alex moved her head so it rested on Evan's shoulder and she could look out over the city, the sunlight bouncing off the glass windows in the central tower making it look so beautiful. It gave her the strength to continue with her story.

"It was a few weeks after I finished the translation that he asked me out. I was in the commissary late one night trying to keep myself awake with coffee while I finished a translation and he came in to get a snack. He walked straight over to me and gave me that killer smile of his before asking if he could sit down. I stuttered and stumbled my way through a few minutes of pleasant conversation before he just came out with it and asked if I wanted to go see a movie with him.

"I couldn't believe that he asked me out. He was so good looking and charming, he could have had any woman on the base and he wanted to go out with me. Of course I agreed and one date led to two which led to three which led to even more. Next thing I knew we'd been seeing each other for three months. That was the first time he cheated on me.

"She was a nurse. A cute brunette nurse with big boobs and an even bigger mouth. He told her that we'd never been that serious and that I'd broken up with him. She fell for it and next thing I know she's telling everyone who'll listen that they're dating and that it's really serious and that he was going to meet her parents when they both get some time off to go visit them. As soon as he realised that she was talking he broke it off with her and came crawling back to me, telling me that it was all lies and that he only wanted to be with me. And I took him back, the fool that I was.

"Two months later I caught him with one of the botanists in his lab. I never knew the whole story there but I would guess that it was similar to the one he'd told the nurse. When she realised that he'd been cheating on me, she called it off and apologised to me. She was a nice woman. I think her name was Marie. He came back to me and told me that he'd been stressed and he wasn't sure what was going on between us, so he'd acted out and come on to Marie and she hadn't said no. I forgave him again and the happiness lasted for another month.

"I'm not sure how he met the third woman. She wasn't a member of SCG staff, so he probably found her in a bar somewhere. I caught them together, at his place on our six month anniversary. The funny thing was that I probably wouldn't even have bothered to go over to his place if he hadn't suggested it. I've never been on for anniversaries in relationships. I always thought that if you have to celebrate being together for six months, what are the chances that you'll be together for a year?

"I got off work early, so I decided to surprise him by turning up early at his place. I found them having sex in the kitchen. I yelled and threw things at him before storming out and returning to the SGC to cry on Daniels shoulder for a few hours. He was really good through out the whole relationship. He never told me I was crazy, unlike a lot of other people, he simply let me get on with the relationship and helped me to pick everything up when Doug smashed it to pieces.

"Anyway, the third time I took Doug back I was careful. I knew that the chances were that he'd cheat again, and I was going to be ready for it when happened. Except that he didn't get the chance. The Ancient outpost was found and Daniel soon worked out how to get to Atlantis. I knew that I was going before I was ever asked about it, and I thought that Doug would seize the opportunity to come as well, so when he told me he had to think about it…

"I knew that if he came then the chances were that we would end up married, and I was shocked to find that it was what I wanted. I really thought that he would come with me. I honestly believed that he was going to do it. Then the night before we left, he came to me and told me that he didn't want to go. That it was over between us and that he was moving to Nevada to take a job at Area 51.

"The next morning I stepped into the gateroom and I never looked back. We didn't know if we'd ever return to Earth. I didn't think that I'd ever see Doug again, so I took all those emotions that I was feeling and I put them in a little box so that I didn't have to deal with them, and today I think that box has been smashed to bits."

Evan was silent for a few minutes after Alex finished her story. "I talked to him on Midway," he said eventually. "He mentioned that there was someone on Atlantis that he used to know and that he was looking forward to seeing them again."

"Well, he's going to be disappointed because I'm not planning on spending any more time with him than is absolutely necessary," Alex replied.

"I'm relieved to hear it," Evan told her quietly. "Sounds a lot like you were in love with him."

"Oh I was," Alex laughed sadly. "I was head over heels for him. When he smiled, I would do anything he asked."

"Are you still in love with him?" Evan asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Alex turned to see Evan looking down at her, his eyes filled with hope. "No," she replied. "I haven't been in love with him for a while. In fact, I think I fell out of love with him right around the time you first arrived."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Evan told her smiling.

"I just hadn't thought about him in so long. Seeing him there, with that same smile on his face, it was too much for me to handle. I had been expecting to see you, and I'd missed you so much this past week, I was excited to see you again."

"And then you saw him," Evan finished.

"It threw me. But I'm good now," Alex said burrowing her head into Evan's shoulder. "I've let it all out and now you know everything about Doug Stepson."

"Does anyone else know about him?" Evan asked.

"Kara does," Alex replied. "She managed to pry it out of me a few months ago with the aid of a bottle of vodka."

"I assume you don't want people knowing."

"Not unless it's necessary," Alex said.

"I'll keep quiet," Evan promised.

"I know you will," Alex replied with a smile.

"So," Evan changed to topic of conversation. "You missed me while I was away?"

"Maybe a little bit," Alex admitted.

"Only a little bit?" Evan pouted, his fingers moving to Alex's side causing her to squirm away.

"You keep trying to tickle me and I'll change that answer to not at all," Alex warned, but Evan wasn't deterred.

"Oh, I think you're lying, Dr Owens," Evan said as his fingers continued to move against Alex's skin.

"Major Lorne, would I do I thing like that?" she asked innocently as she still squirmed against him.

"I have no doubt that you would," Evan said quietly next to Alex's ear, his voice sending shivers down her spine.

Evan dipped his head a little further and kissed Alex's neck, fingers going from tickling to caressing, causing Alex to press herself back against his body.

"Keep that up and we'll need to go someplace that's a bit more private," Alex warned.

"Now that sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time," Evan rumbled.

"What about your new Marines," Alex pointed out.

"I think Kara's looking after them," Evan told her.

"Oh, I do so love that woman," Alex replied.

"Not as much as I me, I hope?" Evan asked, mouth on her neck and finger working their way up her body.

"Definitely not," Alex whispered before pulling away from Evan and standing up. "Your room or mine?"

-


End file.
